Elder brother's garrison

"I understand." Andrea nodded, pouting slightly as she looked out the car window and sighed.

Andrea felt that her freedom was like those trees that flashed by, gradually drifting away from her.

Andrea Doria is a battleship ship girl.

Yes, although many people are initially drawn to Andrea's youthful appearance and mistakenly identify her ship type, she is indeed a battleship.

It is a truly outstanding battleship with considerable strength, holding a certain position even among newbie naval bases.

Furthermore, Andrea had a good relationship with Veneto, who was also a truly outstanding battleship, and they were both Italian ships.

Although Andrea was one of the earlier ship girls to enter the naval base, she remained on the sidelines for quite a while after her training level was maxed out because her strength was inferior to that of the veteran ship girls there.

Now that I think about it, it's actually not so bad.

After all, if you sit on the sidelines for too long, you'll see the admiral less often and become less familiar with him.

When the admiral dies, they won't have to suffer the same heart-wrenching pain as Lexington and the others.

With this somewhat excessive thought in mind, and feeling a bit guilty, Andrea, along with her sister ship Caio, left the lifeless naval base after the admiral's death and went to a distant human society, where they lived for three years.

It must be said that the three years living in human society were indeed a very fond memory for Andrea.

Life at the naval base was boring and monotonous during my time as a ship girl.

At first, life was monotonous: wake up, eat, practice, fight deep-sea monsters, afternoon tea, eat, sleep. The next day it was the same: wake up, eat, practice, fight deep-sea monsters, afternoon tea, eat, sleep. Later, when Andrea's training was basically maxed out, her life became the same routine: wake up, eat, fight deep-sea monsters, have tea, eat, sleep. Then, as the naval base grew larger and the number of deep-sea monsters couldn't keep up, Andrea's life became even more monotonous.

Get up, eat, have a tea party, sleep, and then get up again.

The monotonous life at the naval base meant nothing to Andrea, who maintained a childlike heart and was detached from worldly desires. However, it was a different story for Andrea, a seasoned veteran who had spent two or three years in human society and had already enjoyed its vibrant and colorful aspects.

—They've been holding tea parties for a full ten years, my goodness! They talk about the same old jokes all the time. Is that even a normal life?

For Andrea, who had already truly learned what a fulfilling life was like, giving up the carefree joys of human society and returning to that dull and monotonous existence would be incredibly agonizing.

But what can be done about it?

As Kayo said, they are ship girls. Returning to the naval base is only a matter of time.

Even if she wasn't familiar with the admiral, she was still a new ship girl in the naval base. Now that a new admiral had taken over, she would have to go back to report sooner or later.

Upon receiving news from the naval base that it had welcomed a new admiral, Andrea was overjoyed for the base, but the thought of returning to the prison-like naval base filled him with deep sorrow.

Andrea is like that. One day she says she hasn't said goodbye to any friends, the next day she says she still owes so-and-so a few dollars, and the day after that she says the supermarket next door is having half-price potato chips, and if you don't buy them, you're not a true ship girl, and so on.

This delay lasted for several months, until Andrea couldn't think of any other reason, and even Andrea felt that they had no choice but to go back. Only then did they finally bid farewell to the human city and head back towards the naval base.

"Driver, how much longer until we arrive?" In the car, Caio, who was sitting next to Andrea, was getting impatient. She held onto the back of the seat and asked the driver in front.

"Almost there, almost there, we'll be there in three to five minutes."

"Oh, thank you, driver," Caio said to the driver in front of him.

"You're welcome." The driver tilted his head slightly, revealing half of his sun-darkened face. He smiled at Kayo and asked, "You two young ladies are ship girls, right?"

“Yes.” Caio nodded and smiled at the driver.

"Let me guess, are they two battleships?" The driver turned his head and shifted his gaze back to the road.

"Huh?" Caio was taken aback, looking at the driver in front of him with some surprise. "You figured out that Andrea was a battleship?"

"Hey!" Andrea, who was sitting next to him, reached out and pinched the soft flesh on Caio's waist hard.

"Hahahaha." The driver laughed heartily. "I was just guessing. Last time, when I was guessing what kind of ship a little girl was, I said a destroyer, and she got angry. Later, I thought about it carefully when I got home, and maybe I guessed wrong, which is why she got angry. Look, this time I started guessing from the big ones and said battleship directly. See if I guessed right or not."

“You guessed right.” Caio laughed as he took Andrea’s little hand and pulled her tiny paws down from his waist.

—The angry ship girl the driver mentioned, could it be Veneto?

After thinking about it, Caio felt that it was a sure thing.

"My name is Caio, and her name is Andrea. We are both battleships, and we are ship girls in this naval base." Caio introduced herself to the driver with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, driver."

"It's nice to meet you all too," the driver said to Cayo with a smile, his eyes narrowed.

"Speaking of which, have you been bringing ship girls to the naval base quite often lately, Mr. Driver?"

“Yes, I’m probably the one who comes here the most often in our line of work,” the driver said. “Mainly because your admiral also came here in my car, so I’m not afraid of this place. I just bring people here whenever they want to come.”

Do you know our admiral?

"I wouldn't say we know each other, but we've met once or twice," the driver said with a smile to Cayo.

"May I ask, what kind of person is our admiral?"

"She's quite likable."

"Oh...it feels a bit strange."

"You'll see when we meet," the driver said, letting out a couple of strange laughs.

Caio wanted to ask something more, but just then, the speeding taxi suddenly swerved, and a screeching sound came from the ground outside the car. A few seconds later, the taxi came to a smooth stop.

"We're here, get out of the car." The driver turned around and smiled at Caio and Andrea.

"Thank you!" Caio quickly took out his money to pay the fare, and while thanking them, he pulled Andrea out of the taxi.

"See you again sometime!" Inside the taxi, the driver's hearty laughter faded into the distance as the car sped away.

“That driver was a good man,” Caio said to Andrea, waving as he watched the car disappear into the horizon.

"Hmm." Andrea shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. "Let's go back to the naval base for some arduous training."

“Ascetic training? There’s no need for that.” Caio laughed when he heard Andrea’s words. “There’s still internet in the naval base.”

“I really won’t come back without the internet. I’m serious. Unless the admiral comes to arrest me himself, I really won’t come back,” Andrea said to Caio as if he had thought of something terrible.

"Okay, I got it." Kayo smiled and patted Andrea on the shoulder, then turned around and looked at the gate of the rookie naval base behind him.

Then, Caio was stunned.

“Andrea,” Caio murmured.

"What's wrong?" Andrea was still packing her luggage and didn't turn around.

"Andrea!"

"What's wrong? Why are you calling me? It's not like I'm not coming back..." Andrea frowned, turned around and looked at Caio.

Then, Andrea was also stunned.

Why were you stunned?

Because when Andrea and Caio turned around, what stood before them was not the garrison headquarters they remembered.

—It’s not a huge amusement park.

Chapter 599 Being an Admiral is Really Relaxing (Fourth Update)

Before Andrea and Caio stood a super iron gate, more than three or four times taller than the previous naval base gate.

The iron gate was adorned with clusters of flowers and covered with colorful little balloons.

Andrea and Caio looked through the doorway and saw that the place, which they remembered as a spacious square, had been completely changed.

The original pond is gone, and the empty space that was a bit unsettling is also gone. In its place stands a gigantic Ferris wheel.

The Ferris wheel slowly rotated, like a large, colorful tire.

Beneath the Ferris wheel were rows of small shops, where many ship girls were strolling hand in hand, clutching snacks like takoyaki, grilled sausages, and grilled squid.

A festive atmosphere was brewing in Andrea and Caio's eyes.

After seeing the scene before them and confirming that they were not dreaming, Andrea and Caio both opened their mouths wide in disbelief as they stared at the sight before them.

"Andrea".

"I'm here."

"Have we gone to the wrong place?" Caio looked at Andrea with a serious expression.

“I…” Andrea fell silent.

To be honest, after seeing the scene in front of them, not to mention Caio, even Andrea himself had a feeling that he might have taken the wrong way home.

—Could it be that after I left the naval base, it went bankrupt due to the lack of an admiral for too long, and in order to make a living, Lexington sold the naval base's land to a shady businessman next door to turn it into an amusement park? And then, after receiving a sum of money to relieve the pressure, the rookie naval base moved to some overpass or something?

"How about we make a call and ask?" Andrea asked Caio with a serious expression.

"Oh...oh." Kayo hurriedly took out his phone and frantically typed in a phone number.

Just then, a lush green figure suddenly appeared from the other side of the gate.

"Hey! Hello there!" The green-clad figure waved to Andrea and Caio.

Startled by the sound, Caio gripped her phone tightly, and she and Andrea looked toward the source of the sound.

A tall, well-developed green-haired ship girl was slowly walking towards Andrea.

The green-haired ship girl walked up to Andrea, staring wide-eyed as she looked Andrea and Caio up and down: "Hello."

"Uh, hello." Realizing what was happening, Caio quickly bowed to the green-haired ship girl in front of him. "My name is Caio Duilio, and this is Andrea Doria!"

“Oh, you’re a ship girl.” The green-haired ship girl nodded knowingly. She extended a hand and shook hands with Caio and Andrea. “My name is Rome, and I’m a ship girl from this naval base.”

"Rome...?" Andrea looked at the ship girl who called herself Rome with some confusion.

In Andrea's memory, there was never a ship girl named Rome in the newbie naval base.

Could it be that this place is no longer the newbie garrison, but has been acquired by someone else?

"Is there a problem?" Rome asked Andrea, noticing her serious and puzzled expression as she muttered her name.

"I... um... was this place originally part of the naval base?"

“Oh, that’s what you’re wondering about. Of course, this is a naval base, after all.” Rome nodded with a smile. “What about this place doesn’t resemble a naval base?”

Andrea and Caio glanced through Rome's body at the still-rotating Ferris wheel behind her.

"Um, we're ship girls from the newbie naval base..." Even though Andrea and Caio had the same grievance in their hearts, they didn't say it out of politeness. After that, Caio cautiously asked Roma, "Excuse me... is this still the newbie naval base?"

"Oh, it's you guys." Rome quickly smiled after hearing Caio's words. "This is the rookie naval base. Are you seniors?"

"senior?"

“Those who joined the naval base before me are all seniors,” Roma laughed.

"Uh... I guess so." Kayo nodded.

"Come, come, let me lead you in." Rome enthusiastically led Andrea and Caio into the amusement park and guided them further inside.

Andrea quickly realized that the amusement park was significantly larger than it appeared.

Rome led Andrea and Caio further in, first approaching the enormous Ferris wheel in the very center of the square. Beneath the Ferris wheel, various stalls emitted aromas of food that could only be smelled in a gourmet area.

There were many ship girls in the middle of the stall. Some of them were holding a cotton candy, some were holding a box of fried noodles, and some were squatting in the middle of the stall, shooting balloons with air guns. The surrounding area was filled with the laughter of ship girls, making it a lively scene.

"This is the front part; the ship girls usually like to stroll around here when they have nothing to do," Rome said to Andrea as she led them. "Are you hungry?"

"Um, I'm not hungry... We've already had lunch..."

"Are you craving it?"

"……Okay."

Rome gave Andrea and Caio a half-smile, then grabbed their hands and pulled them toward a small stall.

Andrea arrived at the stall, where several colorful cotton candies were displayed, and the smell of hot syrup wafted out.

The owner of the cotton candy stall was a rather beautiful blonde ship girl. She was tall and slender, with her hair up in a bun, and her skin was snow-white. Her hands were constantly busy at the stall in front of her, and her movements were quite nimble.

"Ricelius, three marshmallows!" Rome pulled Andrea and the others over and called out to the proprietress inside with a smile.

"Oh." The ship girl named Richelieu nodded. She took out three wooden chopsticks and started spinning them in the machine in front of her. In no time, three snow-white cotton candies were spun and handed to Rome.

Rome took the cotton candy and handed the two to Andrea and Caio: "Have a taste."

"Thank you." Andrea and Caio took the marshmallows and took a small bite.

It tastes like regular cotton candy, but it tastes quite good in the lively environment around it.

“Her name is Richelieu, and she’s a maid at the garrison,” Rome said, pointing to the cotton candy shop owner.

"Hello." The Richelieu maid bowed to Andrea and Caio.

"A maid? Has she quit because of Reputation?"

"She's gone into seclusion as the head maid, focusing on serving the admiral," Rome said, pulling out a banknote and handing it to Richelieu before leading Andrea and Caio away.